This week’s bonus interview welcomes Lee Shapiro of 7Wire Ventures to the podcast. Lee is Managing Partner at 7wire Ventures, an investment firm he co-founded over a decade ago. The fund’s focus is on building companies that empower connected informed health consumers to improved outcomes, facilitating the change from sick-care to wellcare. He is active with the 7wire portfolio and the boards of Livongo Health, Ayogo Health, Carebox, Zest Health, ConsejoSano, Modern Teacher and Education Funding Partners. He also serves on the boards of Medidata Solutions [NASDAQ:MDSO], Tivity Health [NASDAQ:TVTY], and Aptus Health (a Merck subsidiary [NYSE:MRK]).

As President of Allscripts [NASDAQ:MDRX] from 2001 through 2012, his leadership was central to over $4B in mergers, acquisitions and financings. He oversaw the company's strategy, international operations, business development and partnerships, health plan initiatives and entrepreneurial business investments.

He is a member of The World Innovation Network Board (TWIN, formerly known as Northwestern Kellogg KIN), the University of Chicago Innovation Fund Advisory Committee, The Samsung Strategic Advisory Board, The Qualcomm Life Advisory Council and the advisory board for the Center of Digital Innovation in Digital Health in Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Lee is a member of the National Board of Directors of The American Heart Association and has served as an officer and director of the Gastro-Intestinal Research.

Also joining this episode was special guest, and Healthbox President, Neil Patel.

In this Episode, Chuck, Neil, and Lee discuss:

Lee’s early career, how he became President of AllScripts and some of the biggest lessons he learned at Allscripts

How Lee realized and arrived at the investment thesis for 7Wire Ventures?

Lee’s vision in creating, essentially, a 2-sided market, with startups on one side and 7wire’s strategic LPs on the other, which includes such names as Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, Memorial Hermann, and Rush University Medical Center, to name a few.

With such a diverse set of strategic LPs, Lee’s philosophy on how to engage them in the investment process and in portfolio support

Lee’s thoughts around innovation in Chronic care management and if, due to the recent emergence of advanced IOT and AI, we are on the cusp of seeing some major changes in this area

What gave Lee the conviction early on to invest in a crowded disease management space, having participated in many of Livongo’s early funding rounds

Lee’s approach to looking for and identifying new innovative healthcare business models and how the firm proactively looks to foster these types of models

What Lee thinks is special about having his firm based here in the Midwest